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Pathetic New York Knicks Drawing Pathetic Ratings for MSG

By William Lee

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As per Marc Berman of the New York Post there was almost no one watching the Knicks lose to the Wizards 101-87 on April 3, 2015.

"According to a source, the Knicks-Wizards matchup mustered a rating of 0.18 — which is believed to be the smallest number for a Knicks live telecast in many years. That rating represents 14,000 viewers for a game in which the Knicks fell behind 30-10 after one quarter.An MSG Network spokesman would not confirm nor deny whether it was the lowest rating in recent team history. Though the fans are still packing the Garden, the network’s ratings are down 39 percent, the spokesman said."

Apr 5, 2015; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks general manager Phil Jackson yawns against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second half at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks defeated the 76ers 101 – 91. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

To put this in perspective, the five boroughs of New York has a population of 8,491,079, the most populated city in the United States of America. The amount of viewers for this Knicks’ game amounted to .16% of the New York population, not even 1% of New Yorkers watched this game. Which is reasonable considering that this is LITERALLY THE WORST season in franchise history…so it is understandable that no one wants to watch this product that James Dolan and Phil Jackson has fielded out. The New York Knicks are currently 15-62, the next most viewed Knicks’ related night might be when the draft order gets revealed…

It was only a few years ago when Linsanity took New York by storm, captivated by a Cinderella story, New York Knicks’ games were must-watch television. Ratings were through the roof as per Michael O’ Connell of the Hollywood Reporter

"New York’s obsession with first year Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin is good business for MSG Network.The Knicks took their sixth straight win on Tuesday night. And in edging out the Toronto Raptors, they also brought in MSG its highest-rated Knicks game since Carmelo Anthony moved over from the Denver Nuggets last February. The game peaked at a 7.84 rating among households, with 579,204 households, and finishing with a 4.66 rating and 344,272 households. At its highest, the game brought in 843,276 total viewers."

Those numbers ranging from 350,000 to 840,000 seems unfathomable to achieve now that it is at a laughable 14,000. The 2011-2012 New York Knicks season was one of the most viewed seasons in decades as per Amanda Kondolojy of TV by the Numbers.

"MSG’s telecasts of the New York Knicks 2011-12 regular season games averaged a 3.30 Nielsen household rating, making it the highest-rated regular season ever on MSG, dating back to the start of the 1988-89 NBA season when he network started tracking household ratings."

MSG though is not just standing pat, Dolan and company are brainstorming ways to alleviate some of the lost in viewership as per Marc Berman.

"According to the TV source, the drop in viewership prompted owner James Dolan to suggest all Westchester Knicks games be telecast on MSG. Originally the plan was to telecast just two of the D-League team’s games.In an attempt to generate ratings, MSG Network will air last week’s Steve Mills-Phil Jackson season-ticketholder presentation Tuesday night."

Honestly watching D-League Westchester Knicks games does not sound appealing at all, and it would be interesting to see the television ratings for Westchester Knicks compared to the New York Knicks. Pretty sure the NBA product still blows the D-League product away…there cannot be much people watching D-League games. Rather just be pleasantly surprised by a decent D-League player making the league like Langston Galloway than actually watching D-League games…

The Steve Mills-Phil Jackson season-ticketholder presentation does intrigue me, probably worth a watch, although…most media outlets has probably already picked out the most important quotes and have already written about it.

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